


History is Written by the Victors

by Llama1412



Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, References to Genocide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:02:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22643053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Llama1412/pseuds/Llama1412
Summary: “Dara said grandmother’s men laughed as they raped women and killed babies by - by swinging them by their legs, bashing their heads in.”Fuck. Tentatively, Jaskier wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a hug when she didn’t flinch away. In his head, he could hear Filavandrel’s voice,the humans proudly watch these very fields grow... our babies fertilizer for their grain.He swallowed against rising bile.Against his neck, he could feel Ciri finally succumb to tears. “How could grandmother order that? I know her, that wasn’t what she was like! But Dara wouldn’t have lied.”--Wherein our characters struggle with knowing that good people can do awful things, and that everything you think you know is probably wrong.
Relationships: Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon & Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 5
Kudos: 164





	History is Written by the Victors

**Author's Note:**

> Set post-season 1 and after Jaskier has joined Geralt and Ciri. They’re traveling north away from Sodden.   
> This was previously part of my [Families of Choice series](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1660492), but this was written first and no longer fits the continuity. But it is canon compliant!

“Ciri?” There was a knock on the wood at the stable entrance, before Jaskier wandered towards Roach’s stall and found the girl sitting on a bale of hay. “You okay? You left dinner pretty abruptly.” Partway through his singing, actually. He was trying not to take it personally. “Geralt’s hovering outside, because of course he is, but he’s not exactly the best conversationalist, so… thought I’d try.”

Ciri pulled out a piece of hay and began fidgeting with it. “I’m sorry, I’m fine. I just…” she bit her lip and glanced at him quickly before looking away. “In… in your song, there’s a part about...about fighting elves.”

Great, so his singing _was_ why she stormed out. “Yeah?”

“I thought...well, my friend Dara, he saved my life and we were traveling together before Geralt found me,” she sniffled. Jaskier nodded. Ciri hadn’t talked about the details of her escape from Cintra, but she’d told Geralt a few things, and Dara had definitely been one of them. Family, she’d called him, but she never said exactly why they’d separated. In the face of her tears, Geralt had never pushed to know more. “He said...he told me that my grandmother’s men had attacked his family. Because they were elves.”

“Oh.” 

She inhaled deeply and met his eyes for a moment. “Is it true? Did...did that happen?”

He blew out a breath, and moved to sit beside her on the hay. “How much were you taught about the Great Cleansing and Filavandrel’s Uprising?” Ciri frowned in concentration before shaking her head. “Okay, well, I can tell you what I was taught. And then what I later found was actually true.

“Almost a hundred years ago, humans rose up against elven oppression, and the Great Cleansing began. Thousands were lost, but in the end, humans prevailed. As reparation, the elves bequeathed the land to the humans and left for their golden palaces in the mountains. About 15 years ago, an elf army, led by their king, Filavandrel, attacked the human kingdoms in Filavandrel’s Uprising. They were driven back. That’s what all the stories said, and that’s what I believed. Until Geralt and I actually met Filavandrel.”

“Fighting the arm in your song?”

“Ah, well...no. The thing about a song is, you take a little creative liberty to make it into a story people want to hear. Or sometimes a lot of creative liberty.”

Ciri frowned at him. “Your songs are lies?”

“No! Not...exactly.” Jaskier huffed out a breath that ruffled his bangs. “It’s a little more complicated than that, but the important thing is that history is pretty much always edited to appeal to the audience. So you’re right, there was no army of elves. There were only a few, and they were refugees, the ‘devil’ was stealing food for them. Because...well, because all that we were told about golden palaces and choosing to leave? Was just a story. The truth is, the Great Cleansing was humans slaughtering elves. Filavandrel said humans robbed his elders of everything they had and killed them when they fought back. That they were forced into the mountains with no food, no resources. I don’t -” he hesitated, “I don’t know what the whole truth is. Maybe it’s exactly what Filavandrel said. Maybe some of the human stories have elements of truth. Maybe Geralt knows more - he’s lived a long time, maybe he’s learned things. I don’t know exactly what your grandmother’s men did or didn’t do either. I know that Calanthe fought against the Uprising when they tried to take land from Cintra and was victorious in battle, but that’s...well, it’s the story. Maybe there really was an army, or maybe it was people like your friend’s family.

“Fighting against an army and winning makes history - it’s a good story. The truth is messier and uglier than any story people want to hear. And my living is selling stories people _want_ to hear.” Did that mean he created armies instead of refugees, or embellish the details of a hunt? Well sure. Geralt may call that lying, but Jaskier called it proper embellishment. He had a feeling Ciri wouldn’t care what he called it, though. She was sniffling constantly, as if determined to stop her tears from forming.

“Dara said grandmother’s men _laughed_ as they raped women and killed babies by - by swinging them by their legs, bashing their heads in.” 

Fuck. Tentatively, Jaskier wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a hug when she didn’t flinch away. In his head, he could hear Filavandrel’s voice, _the humans proudly watch these very fields grow... our babies fertilizer for their grain._ He swallowed against rising bile. 

Against his neck, he could feel Ciri finally succumb to tears. “How could grandmother order that? I _know_ her, that wasn’t what she was like! But Dara wouldn’t have lied.”

He ran a hand through her hair slowly. “I wish I had a good answer for you. People are complicated. Sometimes we rationalize doing terrible things because we’re afraid or because we want to protect someone.” Or to become a famous bard. He grimaced. “Your grandmother loved you. The Queen Calanthe I knew would have done anything to protect those important to her. I have no doubt that whatever she did, she did to protect her people. Does that make it right? No. But it may have been all she could think of. Or the lesser evil, from her view.”

“But,” Ciri spoke so quietly, he wouldn’t have been able to hear if her face weren’t pressed against his neck, “but if she could do that…How can she be the same person who raised me?”

Jaskier sighed and shook his head as much as he could. “I wish I could tell you everything you want to know. Sometimes…sometimes we have to accept that the people we love have been responsible for bad things. Or that we didn’t know them as well as we thought we did. But I don’t think that means the love was any less real. The world is just too complicated, and sometimes we make the wrong decisions.” He squeezed his arms around her. “It’s okay if you don’t know what to feel right now. It will probably take a long time to reconcile what you’ve heard and what you’re learning with who you knew. And it’s okay if you never do, too.”

In all honesty, there were plenty of things about himself that he hadn’t reconciled. He tried not to think about it too much, but Filavandrel had spared him and Geralt, and he’d spent the last several decades using his gifted lute to make _Toss a Coin_ famous across the continent. A song in which the White Wolf slayed an army of elves at the edge of the world. He’d love to believe that it was just a song, people knew they were embellished, it’s not like it would actually affect people’s opinion of elves. Except, everything he’d told Ciri about what he was taught came from stories. Before meeting Geralt, all he knew about elves came from stories. If he was being realistic, he knew his story was the same - the only exposure many humans had to elves, and they were firmly shown as the aggressors, and the losers. His song was _supposed_ to make you cheer for Geralt - that was the point. And what better way to showcase a hero than to contrast him with “evil” elves? 

He could choose to reveal that his songs were sometimes more embellishment than fact. Geralt did, whenever he was asked about his exploits. Or he could even embellish future songs less, play the ones that were truer. And yet, he was a traveling bard. He made his money by pleasing his audience, and what his audience wanted was epic tales of victory. He just had to live with knowing his part in perpetuating the lies. And Ciri would have to determine for herself where she wanted to fit into the tale - whether like Geralt, she let him sing what he wanted, even if she disapproved, or whether she wanted to tell a different story.

**Author's Note:**

> In reference to the Great Cleansing and Filavandrel's Uprising - I took what I could from the tv canon, and while I haven't read the books or played the game yet, did pull what I could from there. But since the tv show/game/books aren't focusing on what stories humans told to justify the genocide, I had to fill in some of the gaps.


End file.
